Creative articles about sewing

Secret to a hidden inseam pocket

Its my 25th birthday coming up and this is my 25th blog post! 

I have mentioned before in a blog post (Duplicate your favourite jersey and embroider it! ) that my birthday is in Spring. So when I was gifted a box of beautiful fabrics and saw the floral Rayon Challis, I knew it needed to be made into a flowy skirt for a Springtime party.

I love when a garment has pockets, especially a dress or skirt. Patch pockets didn’t seem the correct style to go with the floral pattern of the fabric. So I decided on inseam pockets.

The secret to ensuring your inseam pocket is hidden, is as simple as using a facing inside the pocket. That way when the pocket opens, all anyone sees is the same fabric as the garment, not the pocket bag.

What will be needed:

  • Sewing machine
  • Overlocker
  • 3-4 matching threads
  • Iron
  • Inseam Pocket Pattern
  • 30cm x 80cm of Lining Fabric
  • Two 20cm x 6cm fabric off-cuts from your sewing project
  • Sewing project you want to add inseam pockets to

Pattern

Please feel free to use my Inseam Pocket Pattern for any garment that has a side seam.

If you would like to make a skirt like the one I made with these pockets, here is a guideline to draft the pattern according to your measurements: Gathered Tier Skirt Pattern Guide

Steps

  1. Cut the Facings out of the same fabric as your garment.
    Overlock the 1 side of the Facing piece (arrow for reference)
    You can use the 3 or 4 thread overlock stitch.

 

  1. Place the Facing on a Pocket Bag piece and secure it along the overlocked edge with a zig zag stitch.
    I used a zig zag stitch with a 3mm length and 3.6mm width.

 

  1. Stay stitch around the rest of the Facing.

 

  1. Place the Pocket Bag piece (with the Facing) on to the Side Seam of the Back piece of your garment.
    Choose how far down the side seam you want the pocket. I recommend 15cm from the Waistband if the garment is high-waist. If you garment sits on your trouser waist/hip bones, then I recommend 1cm-2cm from the Waistband.
    The Facing should be placed face down on the Right Side of the garment.

 

  1. Secure the Pocket to the garment with a 1.5cm seam allowance.*
    Sew only along the Pocket Opening.

 

  1. Overlock along the Pocket Opening.

 

  1. Press/iron the Pocket Bag
    The Side Seam should be flat and only the Pocket Opening folded.

 

  1. Top-stitch along the Pocket Opening.
    Align the edge of the foot with the seam.

 

  1. Repeat steps 4-13 for the other half of the Pocket Bag.
    Attach it to the Side Seam of the corresponding Front piece of your garment.

 

 

  1. Pin the Front & Back of your garment along the Side Seam.
    Leave the Pocket Opening open.
    Make a mark 1cm in from the top and Bottom of the Pocket Opening.

 

  1. Join the Front & Back of your garment along the Side Seam.
    Sew from the top of the seam to the mark at the top of the Pocket Opening.
    Then sew with a 1cm seam allowance around the Pocket Bag until the mark at the bottom of the Pocket Opening.
    Continue sewing the rest of the Side Seam.

 

  1. Overlock the Side Seam & Pocket Bag.
    Start at the base of the Pocket Opening (#1) and overlock down the Side Seam of your garment.
    Then to do the next step you will need to turn your garment upside down to be able to start at the base of the Pocket Opening (#2) and overlock around the Pocket Bag and the rest of the Side Seam.
    I recommend using a sewing needle to thread the excess overlocking threads in to the seam to finish neatly.

 

  1. Press the Pocket Bag and Side Seam towards the Front.
    Normally we press the Side Seam to the Back but then our pockets would go the wrong way.
    If you haven’t done so already, repeat all the steps to attach a pocket to the other side seam.

Can you spot the white butterfly?

Tips

  • *If your garment has a different seam allowance, adjust the Pocket Opening on the pattern (for the Pocket Bag & Facing) to match the seam allowance of your garment.
  • You could make the pocket bag out of the same fabric as the garment if the fabric is thin enough.
    I however did not have enough of the floral fabric to also make the pocket bags.
    Also, as the fabric is rather thin, if I had made the pocket bags in the patterned fabric they would have shown through garment.
  • When it comes to choosing fabric for the pocket bags, I suggest something thin and nondescript. A plain lining fabric is best.

I would love to see how you use the inseam pockets or the skirt you make, please feel free to share with me!
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-Hannah-Rose

PS. Big thank you to Anna Nogueira for gifting me the gorgeous fabric. I am so appreciative of your generosity.

 

All patterns designed by me are for personal use only.

Free sewing instructions for a hidden inseam pocket #sewing #sewingprojects #inseam #dress #freebie #bernina

Difficulty level: Intermediate
Time to Complete: Weekend
Used Material: Rayon Challis
Used Products:
BERNINA 535
BERNINA 535
BERNINA L 460
BERNINA L 460
Reverse Pattern Foot #1
Reverse Pattern Foot #1

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  • Vickie Gentry EditEditing comments on the BERNINA blog is only possible after logging in with a blog user account. Sign up now or create a user account if you do not have one yet.

    I like using flannel backed satin for most of my pockets, the flannel for the inside of the pocket and the satin for the outside.  This makes it so it is a nice and sturdy pocket that is easy to deal with, but the slippery outside satin part makes it so it slides more against the garment fabric and I think that helps to make it less noticeable.  I also like to make large pockets, that are big enough to hold my phone and keys at the very least, and I add a piece of twill tape along the curved outside seam of the pocket which I then catch in the waistband seam so that the waistband is holding the weight of the pocket rather than the side seam.  This helps with larger pockets to make the weight distributed better since the waistband is designed to hold the weight of the garment and adding the weight of the pocket contents further in on the front panels makes it hang nicer, particularly for skirts and dresses that have a waistband.  

  • Nisha Batel EditEditing comments on the BERNINA blog is only possible after logging in with a blog user account. Sign up now or create a user account if you do not have one yet.

    Your dress is beautiful and looks so comfortable. I will also try this pocket at home. Thanks for sharing.

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